The Optical Insufficiency Conundrum
by jublke
Summary: Leonard is (almost) always there for his roommate when Sheldon needs him. What happens when Leonard needs Sheldon's help?
1. Chapter 1

This is a work of fan-fiction. _The Big Bang Theory_ was created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. I own none of this.

My thanks to my husband for beta-reading. Any remaining errors are mine.

/

"Leonard, you're lookin' a little green there." Howard played his card and stared at the experimental physicist. "You feeling all right?" Raj nodded emphatically. He was sitting on the sofa next to Howard, leaving the third cushion vacant to appease Sheldon.

Leonard slumped over from his seated position on the floor, frowning at a fistful of cards. He wrinkled his eyebrows. "I'm fine. Stop trying to distract me." He slapped a card down on the coffee table.

"Dude, you should not have played that!" Raj enthused. "I win again." Leonard groaned.

Sheldon watched the three of them from his perch on the desk chair, eying them with more than a bit of disdain. "I don't see how you can play with that Satanimals expansion pack," he said with a sniff. "Everyone knows the only real version of Mystic Warlords of Ka'a is the original. That one is just a blatant money grab." He turned back to his computer.

"Way to kill the mood, Sheldon," complained Howard. Standing up, he slapped his best friend on the back. "Come on, Raj, you promised you'd help me take Ma to the podiatrist. I can't lift her by myself."

Raj frowned. "How did you talk me into this again?"

Leonard took off his glasses, stood up, and moved toward his desk chair. Rubbing his eyes, he tipped his head toward his friends with a smirk. "Yes, Howard, how did you manage that?" He grinned as he put his glasses back on.

Howard gave a small laugh and shrugged. "It wasn't me. Ma said Raj could look at her magazine collection."

The astrophysicist brightened and bobbed his head. "_Cosmo_." The two men left the apartment.

Once the door had closed behind them, Sheldon gave a contented sigh. "Now that Rajesh and Howard are gone, I no longer have to listen to the inane prattle of that ridiculous game." He stood up and walked around the small table, making slight adjustments to the sofa cushions, fluffing his rainbow striped pillow, removing a speck of lint from the floor.

Leonard didn't reply. He was frowning at a research paper on his desk. Sheldon glanced at him, then sat down at his own desk and resumed his work.

/

Fifteen minutes had passed and Dr. Hofstadter was still staring at the same page.

"Stop that," Sheldon snapped, glaring in Leonard's direction.

"Stop what?" Leonard replied, looking over at his roommate. His glasses were off and he was rubbing his eyes. He squinted at Sheldon. "What could I possibly be doing to bother you now?" He replaced his frames and gave Sheldon an annoyed look before taking his glasses off again.

"Precisely." Sheldon shook his head. "You keep removing your glasses and throwing them down on the desk. It's very distracting."

"Sorry, Sheldon," Leonard muttered. He blinked for a few minutes, rubbed his right eye, and put his glasses back on. Then he removed them again and dropped them on the desk with a clunk.

Sheldon jumped. "There you go again!" Dr. Cooper shook his head. "Whatever is the matter with you today?"

Leonard was on his feet now, squinting with one eye and then the other. He ignored Sheldon and started pacing around the living room.

"Stop that, Leonard!" Sheldon cried, waving his hands. "You're just doing that to annoy me." He caught up to the shorter man in two long strides and waved a finger in his face. "There is to be no pacing in this apartment. You're in violation of Section 15 of the Roommate Agreement."

Leonard stopped and met Sheldon's gaze. In a shaky voice, he replied, "Sheldon, I need to go to the doctor. Right now."

It was Sheldon's turn to blink. "Whatever for?"

Leonard swallowed hard before he replied. "I can't see out of my right eye. I think I'm having a stroke."


	2. Chapter 2

Sheldon waved a hand. "Oh, that's preposterous, Leonard. I doubt very much that you're having a stroke. Given the severity of your myopia, you're far more likely to be suffering from retinal detachment or glaucoma." He stopped waving his hand and appeared thoughtful. "Although you can't rule out a brain tumor without an MRI."

"Sheldon!" Leonard snapped. "You're not helping!" Shaking his head, he took a puff of his rescue inhaler as he tried not to hyperventilate. "Okay, I'm going to call my eye doctor. Maybe they can work me in. You get Penny." Leonard tried to focus his good eye on his cell phone. With effort, he located the correct number on speed dial. While he was calling, Sheldon walked across the hall.

Knock-knock-knock. "Penny?"

No answer.

Knock-knock-knock. "Penny?"

Still no answer.

Knock-knock-knock. "Penny?"

Frowning, Sheldon rapidly repeated the process. Knock-knock-knock. "Penny?"  
Knock-knock-knock. "Penny?" Knock-knock-knock. "Penny?" Then he tipped his head to one side, as if it was absolutely baffling to him that Penny might not be there. "How odd," he said to himself.

"Sheldon!" Leonard was calling from the apartment. "They can get me in. Where are you?"

Returning home, Sheldon found Leonard sprawled awkwardly on the floor. "What are you doing down there?"

Leonard shook his head. "I can't see straight." He held up a small red, white, and blue diecast metal spaceship. "I tripped and knocked over the God Phoenix."

"The one I just bought on eBay?" Sheldon rushed to the toy spaceship and snatched it up, inspecting it for scratches. Checking the retractable landing gear, he snapped, "You know they don't make these any more." He pushed a button on top of the ship to check that the Bird Missile was still intact.

"Sheldon!" Leonard admonished from the floor. "Where - is - Penny?!"

"Well, that's a curious thing, Leonard." Sheldon gently set the model down on its stand. "I don't know." He clucked his teeth. "She's probably at the Cheesecake Factory, getting people's orders wrong." He shrugged.

"Oh, God," Leonard said as he stood up, clinging to Sheldon's desk chair. "I forgot she has a class at the community college today." He met his roommate's eyes. "You have to take me."

Sheldon's gaze narrowed. "Take you where?"

"To the eye doctor, Sheldon!" Leonard thundered. He picked his way carefully to the glass bowl and threw his keys at his roommate. The taller man missed the catch completely.

"No need to get hostile," he said, picking the keys up from the floor. "Why can't you drive?"

Leonard locked his good eye with Sheldon's. "I can't see, remember!"

Sheldon blinked rapidly. "Oh, right," he said. Then he rushed out the door, leaving Leonard still clutching the back of the desk chair.

"Sheldon!"

The taller man poked his head back into the apartment and waggled a finger. "You need to get a move on, mister," he said.

"I realize that," Leonard replied irritably. He took a few tentative steps toward the door.

Sheldon observed Leonard's slow, shuffling progress for several minutes without saying a word. Then he walked toward his roommate. Very deliberately, he placed Leonard's hand on his shoulder.

Leonard looked up at his friend in surprise, but Sheldon's gaze was fixed forward.

"All righty then," said Sheldon. "Let's go." And he led Leonard out of their apartment and down three flights of stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time the two men had reached the eye doctor's office, Leonard was leading Sheldon around. Sheldon's shoulders were stiff and fixed in a driving posture, with his shaking hands at ten o'clock and two o'clock. "It's a death trap out there, Leonard," he babbled.

"I know," Leonard soothed. "It's all right. You did a good job. Those cars just got in our way." Shaking his head, he led Sheldon to one of the empty waiting room chairs and walked over to the receptionist. "I'm Leonard Hofstadter. I called before. Dr. Grant said he could work me in?"

She smiled at him. "It will be just a minute. Is your insurance information still the same?" As Leonard nodded, her eyes widened. "Is your friend all right?"

Leonard followed her gaze across the lobby, where Sheldon was now sitting perfectly still, arms clutching an imaginary wheel, staring straight ahead with a vacant expression.

"Yeah. He gets like that sometimes."

"Leonard Hofstadter?" An opthalmic technician with a clipboard called his name before Leonard could sit down. He followed the man to a small room. Leonard sat in the padded examination chair with its attendant optical equipment. "What seems to be the problem?" the tech asked as he sat down next to Leonard on a sliding stool.

"I don't know," Leonard answered. "All of a sudden, I realized that I couldn't focus with my right eye. Everything was distorted. It's getting better now."

The technician nodded. "When did your symptoms start?"

Leonard shrugged. "Maybe 30 minutes ago?"

"All right, look up here." He gestured at the eye chart.

"I'm not sure I'm going to be able to read that yet. Everything's still muddled on my right side."

"Just do your best," the tech instructed. After Leonard successfully read several lines of letters, the man placed a drop in each of Leonard's eyes. "I'm going to check your eye pressure now."

Leonard sat forward in the chair and rested his chin on the small stand so that the optical technician could check his eyes using the slit lamp. He tried not to flinch when a small circle of light neared each eye. Briefly, he wondered what Sheldon would do in his place. Bite the technician?

"Your pressure readings are normal. I'm going to put another drop in now to dilate your eyes. The doctor will see you shortly."

After the drops were administered, Leonard put his glasses on and stepped out of the room. Returning to the lobby, he was relieved to find Sheldon alert and responsive.

His roommate looked up as he approached. "What did the doctor say?"

Leonard shrugged. "I haven't seen the doctor yet." He smiled weakly as he sat down next to Sheldon. "But my vision is coming back." He grabbed a _Scientific American_ from a stack of magazines on the coffee table.

"How much longer do we have to sit here? The only good thing about having today off was the promise of this afternoon's _Star Trek_ marathon on the Syfy Network." Sheldon crossed his arms and pouted in Leonard's direction.

Leonard rolled his eyes. "I'll make it up to you." He tried to read the magazine, but the drops had already started to take effect and the print was blurry. He tossed the magazine aside.

"How can you? Even if we make it home in the next hour, we'll have missed the first episode. Everything will be out of order."

Leonard ignored Sheldon. He tried to read the text on his cell phone, but his pupils were dilated and it was hard to focus. He thrust the phone at Sheldon. "What does this say?"

Sheldon's eyes widened. "I thought you said your eye was better?"

Leonard shook his head. "It's the drops they put in my eyes." He took his glasses off so that Sheldon could see his pupils.

"Fascinating," Sheldon replied. "Your irises appear nearly non-existent." He smiled. "The iris is a medical marvel, is it not? With the sympathetic nervous system controlling the iris dilator muscle and the parasympathetic nervous system working the pupillary sphincter - "

"Yeah, it's marvelous." Leonard cut him off. "Now, can you read my last text message for me?" He put his glasses back on.

"Penny says, and I quote, 'O-M-G. Where you?' Spelled with a 'u.' 'Be there ASAP.' Spelled with a single 'b.'" He shook his head. "Dear Lord, what is this world coming to? Textspeak should be banned."

"Tell her that we're at Lake and Walnut. Dr. Grant's office is on the second floor."

"Leonard Hofstadter?" The same tech was back. Before Leonard stood up, he whispered to Sheldon, "And tell her that I'm fine." He followed the tech to another small room.

Sheldon stared after Leonard. In a quiet voice, he replied, "We don't know that yet."


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and/or read this story! I really appreciate it.

* * *

Penny met her physicist friends as they were leaving the ophthalmologist's office. Leonard was wearing disposable sunglasses over his regular lenses. Sheldon had a hand on Leonard's shoulder, a gesture that set Penny's alarm bells ringing. Both men looked exhausted.

"Leonard!" she cried, rushing over and drawing him into an embrace. "Oh, sweetie." She touched his left temple. "We need to get you some decent sunglasses."

Sheldon withdrew his hand from Leonard's arm. "Thank goodness you're here," he said, looking at Penny. "Now you can drive us home." He crossed his arms and sniffed.

Penny drew back to look at Leonard. "Are you okay?"

Leonard nodded. "The doctor thinks I'm having an ocular migraine." He winced and held the right side of his head. "It's like having a migraine in your eye." The trio walked down the hall.

"What do you mean? Is it serious?" Penny asked as they entered the elevator. Punching the button for the ground floor, she added, "But I thought you already had those migraine whatchamacallits." They exited the elevator and headed across the lobby toward the parking lot.

"Auras," Sheldon replied. "But migraine auras cause visual disturbances in both eyes. Leonard only had vision loss in one eye. A stroke, a blood clot, retinal detachment, or even a pituitary tumor could cause symptoms of an ocular migraine." He gave Leonard a disapproving frown, arms still crossed.

"Oh, God." Penny stopped in front of the lobby's glass doors and took Leonard's other hand in hers. "Is that true? What did the doctor say?"

Leonard shook his head. "My vision came back and the doctor said that my retinal exam was normal. He's pretty confident of his diagnosis." Leonard looked past Penny at the cars outside. "Actually, he said he was 97% sure, based on my symptoms." He shrugged.

Sheldon snorted in the background. "Like you can trust a man with no grasp of statistics."

Leonard ignored Sheldon. "He wants me to follow up with a neurologist for my migraines. And I need to come back in a week for a visual field test." He winced again and held his head. "But this pain pretty much confirms it. Got any Advil?"

Penny pulled away, unzipped her purse, and handed him a small container of ibuprofen.

Leonard took out four pills and swallowed them dry. He smiled as he gave back the bottle, which she put back into her purse. "I love you," he teased. Looking at Penny more closely, his voice softened. "Hey, are you crying?" He reached out and took her hand again.

"No," Penny said, sniffing. "I just ..." She pulled away and twisted her hands together. Leonard looked at her adoringly. "Okay, I was terrified," she admitted. "I called everyone when I got your text but you and Sheldon weren't answering and no one else knew anything. Howard said you looked bad earlier." Her voice cracked. "I was scared."

Leonard drew her to him. "Hey, it's okay." He held her tightly for a few minutes before rubbing his forehead again and wincing. His face drained of color.

Sheldon shot an anxious glance at Penny. "We need to go home. _Star Trek_ is on." She nodded and they took up positions on either side of Leonard and walked him to Penny's car.

Before he got in the passenger's side, Leonard put up a weak protest. "I hate leaving my car here," he said, rubbing his forehead vigorously. "I should drive home." He looked like he was on the verge of throwing up.

Sheldon shook his head as he climbed into the back seat. "No, it's a death trap out there, Leonard. Let Penny use her wily street smarts to navigate us through rush hour."

"I'll bring you back tomorrow, sweetie," Penny said as she claimed the driver's seat.

"Okay," Leonard agreed as he entered the car. Once inside, he curled into a tight ball, clutching the right side of his head in both hands. He let out a small groan.

Penny put the key into the ignition. As she started the car, she caught a glimpse of Sheldon's face in the rearview mirror. Before he could turn away, she saw her own feelings of worry reflected in Sheldon's eyes.


End file.
